What is DIEP breast reconstruction? Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator (DIEP)
breast reconstruction is a sophisticated technique use to transfer the patient’s own tissue to reconstruct the
breast. It uses the spare skin, excess fat and blood vessels from the patient’s lower abdomen, lower back,
buttocks, and bikini lines as there is large deposit of fats in these areas. Also, it preserves the rectus
abdominis muscle which conserves the abdominal strength and consistency.

While DIEP breast reconstruction can be performed any time after mastectomy, it is
normally performed right after the removal of the breast. The success of the entire procedure would depend on the
safe relocation of the patient’s own tissue.

However, since DIEP breast reconstruction is a complex surgical procedure it is
important that the surgeon has experience and skills in microsurgery. Consequently, there are only few plastic
surgeons that can perform DIEP breast reconstruction.

The Procedure

The whole process of DIEP reconstruction would take at least seven hours to
complete the transferring of body tissue as well as vascular network. The patient will be injected of general
anesthesia by a certified anesthesiologist. The tissues to be transferred can be removed through surgery. The
plastic surgeon must have the skill for micro vascular surgery as it is needed to link again some unstable blood
vessels caused by the transfer of tissues.

Moreover, DIEP breast reconstruction never uses a muscle but only vessels and skin
fats. Therefore, the patient will experience less pain and may be guaranteed with faster recovery and lesser
possibility of risky complications to arise.

Alternatively, some surgeons that are highly skilled can even perform Skin-sparing
mastectomy which is done by removing the breast tissues instead of removing the full breast. In this case, the
outer shell of the breast is still intact which will then be filled with spare tissues to create a look that is
rather close to the patient’s original breast. This method is not that known to most women that are bound for
breast removal.

Choosing the Surgeon

In finding a plastic surgeon that performs DIEP surgery, it is important to take
note of the surgeon’s background. Below are the things that you may want to investigate on.

How many DIEP breast reconstruction surgeries does the surgeon perform in a
week and how dependable is he or she?

Evaluate the surgeon’s failure rate.

Check if the surgeon works with a skilful team or not.

Check how much time the surgeon needs to complete the entire
surgery.

Check and evaluate the surgeon’s own portfolio of before and after
photos.

Verify if the surgeon accepts insurance as your allied body in paying the bill
and what are his or her restrictions.

While looking for the finest plastic surgeon can be weary, it is practically worth
your time and effort knowing all the options you have and understanding each of them. Take the surgeon that you are
most comfortable with. Also, do not take the surgeon’s words as a fact, instead evaluate his or her words from the
information you have gathered before you decide.